1 68 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



pitchy darkness of the night, when the conversation 

 naturally turned to the poor lost dogs. What a night 

 for the poor brutes to be exposed to, roaming about the 

 wet jungles without a chance of return ! 



A sudden knock at the door arrested our attention ; 

 it opened. Two natives stood there, dripping with wet 

 and shivering with cold. One had in his hand an elk's 

 head, much gnawed ; the other man, to my delight, led 

 the three lost dogs. They had run their elk down, and 

 were found by the side of a rocky river several miles 

 distant the two dogs asleep in a cave, and the bitch 

 was gnawing the remains of the half-consumed animal. 

 The two men who had found them were soon squatted 

 before a comfortable fire, with a good feed of curry 

 and rice, and their skins full of brandy. 



Although the elks are so numerous at the Horton 

 Plains, the sport at length becomes monotonous from 

 the very large proportion of the does. The usual ratio 

 in which they were killed was one buck to eight does. 

 I cannot at all account for this small proportion of 

 bucks in this particular spot. At Newera Ellia they 

 are as two to three, as compared with the does. The 

 following extract of deaths, taken from my game-book 

 during three months of the year, will give a tolerably 

 accurate idea of the number killed : 



1852. March 24. Doe - - Killed in the Elk Plains. 



30. Two Does Killed in Newera Ellia Plain. 



April 3. Doe - - Killed at the foot of Hack Galla. 



5. Buck - - Killed at the foot of Pedro. 



8. Doe - - Killed at the top of the Pass. 



13. Buck - - Killed at the foot of the Pass. 



16. Buck - - Killed in the river at the Pass. 



19. Doe - - Killed on the patinas on Badulla road 



21. Buck - - Killed in the river at the base of Pedro. 



